Quote from Indy on March 30, 2019, 11:54 am

Jackie watched the confusion play on Ulric’s countenance carefully, as though considering it for some deeper meaning.  The sound of Logan’s voice had not been missed, and yet to whom or to what she was speaking to was beyond her concern.  At last she nodded gravely.

"No, you’re right. Two more times.  Back in the cave…"

Yet Jackie would never finish that thought.  All at once, she cared very much to whom Logan was speaking.   Even nearly choked in the flames of the fire, some of the deep luxury of the cold, forest scents were perceived… and should that not be noticed, then there was no mistaking the owner of the deep voice.  She snapped to attention, turning her back to the fire with such a hopeful expression, that it took her a moment to hide it.

Then she turned away, a disgruntled snarl playing upon her features.  A deep, aggravated snarl played in her throat.

" ‘Casse pas trois pattes à un canard," the words were uttered so deep they were almost unheard, then glancing to Ulric as though in way of explanation, the next followed,"I swear that I will push her off this mountain"

Quote from Indy on March 30, 2019, 12:03 pm

Theo shivered.  The dark water of the rain seemed to crinkle and sink into every corner of his dark pelt. His nose was cold.  Yet he kept any criticism of the shelter, even trying not to shiver so hard lest Toby's feelings be hurt.  Then the door opened wide.  The poor hermit woman beaconed them in.  The smell of fire, tea, and woolly blankets was almost so much that he would cry.

But he couldn't.  Not at all.  Bianca might have enough confidence in herself, but he didn't.  He wouldn't forget.  Turning his nose towards the cold dirt, he made a pitiful little noise before nudging Toby with his shoulder.

"G-go a-ahead... I.... r-r-really like t-t-this sss-helter..."

"P-p-please j-just... f-f-follow her.... I'll j-j-just b-b-be r-r-right outside"

Quote from Mae on March 30, 2019, 10:49 pm

Ulric's face likewise lit up hopefully when he heard the voice of the Alpha. Two seconds later, however, he looked back at the fire and seemed to wither shamefully. With the barest and briefest glances, Ulric looked up and acknowledged Jackie's words. His expression never changed, yet somehow his eyes or spirit offered a humoring smile. Then he looked at the fire and wished for all the world he could disappear.

****

What Logan felt, after she turned her back, might have come as a great surprise to her, for it was not the pain she was bracing for. Instead, Kratos' hot breath penetrated the muscles down Logan's back, and a deep warmth invaded the sinews of her shoulder. Then, Kratos' warm tongue caressed the open wound left by her attacker's spear. His large head lingered over her.

"You will have to lay down and brace yourself against a tree." Kratos directed, "This will be a lot more painful than you imagine it to be."

Quote from Adriana on March 31, 2019, 12:08 am

A surprise it was indeed- Logan's eyes went wide, her ears swiveling back towards the Alpha, her gaze and head following suit. She studied his massive head a moment, inhaling and taking note of his scent- the musk of wet earth and sweat in his coat, the tones of the leather and cloth on his body.

"I understand how it is," she commented, lowering her eyelids halfway. Standing straighter and turning away, she began forward, popping her neck and good shoulder in a movement.

"Do not even pick me flowers, before you try to see me cry... ah well," she gave a half shrug, finding a good place and preparing herself.

"It is a good thing I do not mind flowers, or easaly cry. So, do your worst, Veľký Vlk, I will not try to bite." with a dismissive wave of her hand, she lowered herself to the ground and closed her eyes, breathing steadily in an effort to relax the muscles.

Quote from Mae on April 1, 2019, 1:51 pm

At closer proximity, Logan might've noticed a faint lingering of blood in that scent.

Kratos said nothing and followed Logan to the tree where he instructed her in how and where to lay. He loomed over her until she was rested. Then he leaned down and felt the dislocated shoulder. There was no evidence of significant internal bleeding or tears, but the muscles had been strained for many hours in the wrong way over the joint. No doubt, the slightest touch would reveal the arm's sensitivity, unless the nerve was severely damaged.

"You are fortunate." Kratos said, feeling and comparing Logan's good shoulder with her injured one. His massive, clawed hands were surprisingly gentle for their size and strength.  His fingers remained straight, like a humans, keeping his claws almost always in a vertical position away from Logan's skin. This was not the way he used his hands earlier to climb the mountain. Earlier, his fingers had been arched so tightly that his fingertips were close to his palms, and the sensitive space under the fingers, between palm-pad and finger-pads, was kept almost entirely off the ground.

"If you have not taken the time to reexamine your physiology since being changed," Kratos said, as he now gently lifted Logan's wounded arm and began an almost undetectable outward pull. "Now is a good time to do so. - Hold onto the tree with your other arm. - Your outward appearance may be undergoing a slower transformation, but your muscular functions changed dramatically during the week of infection. You might resemble your original self on the exterior, but you are developing new muscle memory all the time. You cannot expect to use your body in the same way as before - I am going to start pulling harder now. If you feel the need to bite me, let me know, so I can put a stick in your mouth."

While he spoke, Kratos gradually increased the strain on Logan's arm until it felt like a hundred weights were hanging from the shoulder.

"Every full moon is a time of rapid change, but a far smaller and more important change is bestirred in your cells each moonrise." He continued, "It is more subtle, and progresses at an incremental rate - Hold on a little tighter. - The greatest rapidity of which ...  is achieved a few hours after an active change, but it is not complete until your exterior primal form somewhat resembles your alternate. - There. Did you feel it go back in?"

Kratos believed he felt a jolt in Logan's arm that might be the relocation of the joint, but he was uncertain until Logan showed signs of relief. He asked her to verify renewed mobility in the arm. "Can you touch your other shoulder with that hand?"

Quote from Adriana on April 1, 2019, 4:39 pm

Logan listened, her arm braced around the tree casually as Kratos began. About mid way, her claws were digging into and ripping off fragments of the trees bark, creating deep fissures in it's trunk. About that time, she wasn't as keen on listening, but attempted to as a distraction. Towards the end, however, all of the Alpha's words were blended into a blurred tone of his voice. Her face was knotted tightly, her lips curled up and ears pinned back against her skull.

Then it was over. Logan exhaled the tension in her torso and panted, sliding her back up against the tree after unhooking her claws from it's flesh.

She twitched her fingers and made a fist once, before moving her hand to touch her shoulder. She lowered the hand again. "Good.. thank you."

Standing, she continued to test the arm by flexing her forearm, then lifting it adjacent to her head and neck. "You smell of blood.." she commented plainly.

Quote from Mae on April 1, 2019, 6:18 pm

"And you smell of dead rabbit." Kratos replied, equally as plain.

Seeing that Logan's arm was sufficiently mended, the Alpha turned aside and came to the fire where Ulric and Jackie sat.
"Be aware that it is more likely to come unhinged again until it is fully healed." Kratos said, "And your wound is bleeding again, so I would advise you clean it."

Ulric remained hunched where he sat. He did not rise, and did not meet Kratos in the eyes. Nonetheless, Kratos knelt down beside him and surveyed his adoptive brother's countenance.

"You look nauseous." Kratos said.

Ulric winced and nodded his head, drawing his paw down his long tawny face. Kratos raised his head passively and looked beyond the fire.

"The same product responsible for changing you is of great benefit at the height of its activity, and can prevent infection." Kratos said, again addressing Logan. "It is an aggressive substance, which makes it a potent antibacterial cleanser - as well as a deadly disease and radical reformer in the body of a new host. As our own cells become the aggressor, however, we cannot be harmed by it again."

"How many people survive it... Kratos?" Ulric spoke softly at length. He continued looking at his paws, rubbing them together slowly.

Kratos looked at his adoptive brother.
"Not many." He replied. "Abravious believed that none could survive who did not already possess some amount of it, or were carriers before they were bitten. There is no guarantee of survival after infection, which is why he refused to change his wife. If his theory is correct, all werewolves today are descended from a werewolf bloodline that grew too thin to take the secondary form."

"Do you think that's true?"

"I do not pretend to know. I was not changed by another, at least not by way of broken flesh. Those who are born werewolf have an advantage in that the slow change begins naturally in adolescence and is complete far sooner in life. Yet, even those born to it may be claimed by it in its late stages - though the circumstances are rare. I would also be cautious of taking another form too soon after a traumatizing injury."

Quote from Indy on April 1, 2019, 7:55 pm

The soft, warm glow of the fire cast warm outlines.  Jackie traced the hard bright lines, from the sinew and bulk she knew to be Kratos, to Ulric’s long stricken expression, and finally to the flute which dangled above.  Her ears swiveled to hear Kratos’ words, yet her eyes continued to follow the strange, soft lines that seemed to stretch out like spiderwebs. At last, the lines arrived back from where they had started— one of Kratos’ massive, dark arms.

She snorted as the conversation lulled, bright eyes raising briefly to meet Kratos’ before lowering sharply again, "Then you have whatever I am…"

She turned her back again, prodding at the pyre experimentally with a stick, and sending a few embers upwards.

Quote from Adriana on April 1, 2019, 8:19 pm

Besides the rabbit comment, Logan paid little mind to what Kratos said afterwards. His way of speaking was frustrating for her. Instead she sat against a tree, rotated just out of the fire lights reach. Her mind had chosen it's track, and that was on the beast in the forest, it's features, it's manner of attack, and how she would again take it on in battle. She had absentmindedly picked up twig and broke it to pieces in her hand.

"Gathen.." she rolled the name out quietly, testing it on her tongue. Had Timothy seen this creature before? Is it why he ran in fear constantly?